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Officials to provide update on fatal fire at CFB Wainwright in Alberta
Officials to provide update on CFB Wainwright fire
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Canadian Armed Forces (Mandatory credit)
Officials are set to provide an update today about a devastating fire at a Canadian military base in Alberta that left four soldiers dead and dozens more injured.
Maj.-Gen. Wade Rutland of the 1st Canadian Division has said Saturday's blaze began as a grass fire, but a violent windstorm sent flames racing toward soldiers training at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright.
The fire initially sent 39 wounded to various hospitals, and officials said Wednesday that number was down to 27, with 13 in critical condition.
Roughly 150 people attended a vigil late Wednesday at a church in the nearby town of Wainwright, Alta., southeast of Edmonton.
Prayers were said, songs were sung and the names of those killed were read aloud, followed by a moment of silence.
Mayor Bruce Pugh says the last few days have been tough, but activities at the base have started to return to normal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22. 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Skunk in downtown Vancouver that bit people tests positive for rabies
B.C. skunk that bit people positive for rabies
A skunk that bit a number of people in downtown Vancouver has tested positive for rabies.
Vancouver Coastal Health issued a news release notifying the public of the confirmed case on Wednesday.
The health authority said interactions with skunks are rare, but "a small number of people bitten by the skunk have been assessed and received rabies vaccinations and immunoglobulin to prevent rabies."
Rabies virus is a fatal viral infection that affects the brain and nervous system. It is found in the saliva of infected animals and can be transmitted through a bite or a scratch from an infected animal, Vancouver Coastal Health said.
"Rabies virus is not transmitted through exposure to the spray, urine or feces of infected skunks," it added.
Though bats are the only known "reservoirs" for rabies in British Columbia, the authority said "occasional spillovers to other animal species in specific geographical areas, including skunks, have occurred in B.C."
The seriousness of the infection was highlighted in an issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal earlier this year, where infectious disease physicians described the case of an 11-year-old Ontario child who died of rabies in 2024.
Dr. Brian Hummel, the case report's senior author and a pediatric infectious disease physician at McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton, told The Canadian Press in June that it's "an extraordinarily rare infection" for humans in Canada, with only 28 cases reported since 1924.
The most recent rabies case before the 11-year-old boy was a man who died after exposure to a bat in B.C. in 2019.
Hummel said once symptoms of rabies start, there is no treatment or cure, but noted the virus has a relatively long incubation period — usually weeks — before symptoms of illness start to show.
Anyone who may have been bitten or scratched by a sick or abnormally behaving skunk in Vancouver's West End neighbourhood between Sept. 22 and Oct. 17 is being asked to contact Vancouver Coastal Health for assessment.
The release said anyone who lives outside the region should contact their local health authority for assessment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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National security screening system can be strengthened, senior adviser to Carney says
Security screening can be improved: PM's adviser
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
A senior federal adviser says a government-wide registry of security clearance information would improve efficiency, reduce duplication and help departments identify where relevant personnel security data may already exist.
David Morrison, senior diplomatic and international affairs adviser to the prime minister, told MPs on a House of Commons committee Wednesday such a registry would be one way to strengthen Canada's national security screening process.
The Commons public safety and national security committee is holding hearings on the screening process following the arrest of a Canadian NATO intern on espionage allegations.
A federal source not authorized to speak publicly about the issue has said that officials in Canada were proceeding on the basis the suspect is Biwei Zhang — also known as Claire Zhang — who was previously employed by Canadian government agencies.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree previously told the Commons committee the woman arrested in Belgium had received a security clearance from Global Affairs Canada.
The clearance was granted even though court records said the federal Public Service Commission found in 2023 that Zhang committed fraud in an appointment process for a position with the Canada Border Services Agency.
The Federal Court dismissed her application for judicial review of the decision the following year. She submitted a letter of apology during the investigation into her actions.
Morrison, a former deputy minister of foreign affairs, pointed out that individual federal departments are accountable for deciding to issue security clearances, informed by centralized expertise.
The Treasury Board Secretariat establishes the policy framework, the Public Safety portfolio — through RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service — contributes criminality checks and national security assessments, and individual departments collect relevant information, assess risks and make security clearance decisions, he said.
Morrison declined to discuss specific cases, but he said a person screened to work at NATO would likely have a secret-level clearance.
He indicated that open source checks, such as internet searches of a person's history, are now being done for secret-level security screening — a tightening of the system following the arrest in Belgium.
Morrison told the MPs that open source verification should be used more consistently across government for a wider range of security levels. "Its use would also benefit from common tools, training standards and methodologies across departments," he said.
Morrison also suggested human resources-related information relevant to an assessment of an individual's reliability or loyalty should be available to personnel security decision makers without compromising privacy protections or procedural fairness.
Finally, he said a robust personnel security effort should extend throughout a person's employment in the form of insider risk programs, recurring screening, reporting obligations and security awareness. He said these measures would help identify emerging risks, ensure clearance holders remain reliable and loyal, and confirm that clearances reflect current information.
Security expert Wesley Wark said CSIS "shoulders the main burden" of security screening for the federal government, essentially through assessing loyalty to Canada and reliability as it relates to that loyalty. CSIS provides advice related to immigration files as well as on security clearance checks.
Wark, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, said the current system for security screening in Canada "is simply unsustainable," noting CSIS handles hundreds of thousands of screening requests annually.
"The dual burdens of immigration and security clearance screening on CSIS are simply too great and threaten, in my view, to erode the operational effectiveness of CSIS as it addresses its core missions," Wark said.
"An intelligence service should not be a security screening shop."
He suggested Canada follow the United Kingdom's lead and set up a separate, centralized organization for security clearances.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.
By Jim Bronskill | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Jessie Nadeau et Marie Gagné partagent une photo pour dénoncer le « slut shaming »
Les réseaux sociaux, comme Instagram, servent souvent de tribune afin d'exprimer ses convictions. Le 23 janvier, Jessie Nadeau, influenceuse et ancienne candidate d'OD, y a passé un message contre le slut shaming.
Dans une photo accompagnée de son amoureuse Marie Gagné, Jessie dévoile son derrière avec une légende qui emprunte des mots aux commentaires faits pas Marie-Lyne Joncas sur la nudité en ligne.
La sélection de l'éditeur : Élisabeth Rioux visite des maisons au Mexique et voici ce qu'elle compte faire
Dans un balado de Jerr Allain, Marie-Lyne était revenue sur une controverse de 2018 à propos d’une de ses publications où on pouvait lire : « Ga moé, belle comme le jour. Pis j’ai pas le cul à l’air ».
Dans ce retour fait le 20 janvier 2021, elle explique qu'elle souhaite voir plus que des corps dénudés en ligne :
« Toi tu travailles, t'as des amis, peut-être que tu cuisines bien… Peux-tu nous montrer tout ce que t'es, plutôt que juste nous montrer le fait que t'es une très belle fille... »
Le message de Jessie, qui accompagne sa photo, se lit donc comme suit :
« "Montrer son cul sur Instagram, un moment donné on a fait le tour."
« On n’est pas JUSTE ça t’sais. On fait pas du motocross, mais on fait ben d’autres autres affaires en plus de prendre des photos devant notre miroir belles comme le jour. »
[rebelmouse-image 26006779 photo_credit="jessie.nadeau | Instagram" expand=1 original_size="802x1434"] jessie.nadeau | Instagram
Suite à cette publication, Jessie a également partagé une story soulignant le fait que selon elle, les commentaires sous l'image démontrent une certaine évolution dans les perceptions des gens sur le droit des femmes sur leurs corps.
Cela dit, elle a aussi remarqué qu'il y a encore du chemin à faire du côté de l'éducation sur les enjeux féministes.
Elle a donc partagé plusieurs suggestions de contenu en ligne afin d'en apprendre plus sur le sujet, en plus de révéler des commentaires qu'elle trouve problématiques.